Chapter 10:
K'tanya swung her feet back and forth lazily as she sat on one of the stall walls in the stable. Ahoyo gave a short whinny before resting his enormous head on her lap causing her to give a small giggle.
"For a powerful war horse you can be as gentle as a kitten." She teased and Ahoyo shoved his head into her stomach sending her falling backwards into the arms of a very pleased looking Lancelot.
"I think you insulted him, but feel free to do that as much as you want so long as it's my arms you fall into." K'tanya swatted him upside the head and removed herself from his grasp before making her way over to Tristan and his grasp.
"Play nice." She whispered in his ear noticing the threatening look he had on his face. Tristan relaxed and she flashed him a lovely smile to thank him for his cooperation.
"Are we going to ask her or just stand about here looking pretty all day?" questioned Gawain from his horses' stall. K'tanya's head snapped up from its' resting place on Tristan's chest and she looked around at everyone.
"Ask me what?" she demanded.
"What makes you think we're talking about you?" retorted Lancelot as he walked to his horses'.
"Considering the fact I'm the only woman here I could only assume you were referring to me. Unless of course you deem yourself a woman Lancelot." The statement itself and the calm manner she said it in caused everyone knight, except Lancelot, to laugh loudly. Even Tristan gave a small chuckle at the comment that had been produced from the woman in her arms. If she was ever engaged in battle, she could always beat the enemy with her smart mouth.
"We were wondering if you would like to go for a ride with us outside the wall." Galahad explained as he prepared his own horse. "Tristan even has a horse for you." At this, K'tanya turned and looked up at the silent knight who nodded to her in confirmation.
"Sounds like fun, so long as Lancelot doesn't ride next to me." More howls of laughter followed as Tristan led K'tanya to a beautiful white horse that looked like it could crush her without trying.
"You sure that thing won't kill me?" she questioned and Tristan nodded.
"He is perfectly safe." said Tristan in reassurance. K'tanya smiled at him before leading the horse out of his stall and into the center of the stables where the other knights were mounting their horses.
"He's as gentle as a kitten." Teased Lancelot who was about to mount his steed. Apparently, K'tanya's horse didn't like that and he promptly head butted Lancelot who fell into an empty stall.
"That horse is a demon!" he exclaimed and everyone was in an uproar of laughter in an instant. K'tanya smiled at her horse and Tristan leaned down from Ahoyo to whisper in her ear.
"His name is Vrijheid." K'tanya smiled at Tristan before returning her attention to her horse.
"Vrijheid." She murmured testing the sound of the name. 'Freedom' probably wouldn't have been the first name that came to mind when naming this horse, but it suited him well.
"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to tack your horse?" demanded Lancelot as he mounted his own horse. K'tanya merely rolled her eyes at him before swinging up onto her horses' bareback and staring down at the great distance between her and the ground.
"If I fall, hopefully I land on something soft." She declared and a couple of the knights smiled at her.
"Don't worry, I'll catch you." Purred Lancelot flirtatious and K'tanya shook her head.
"Not if you don't want Tristan to maim you, or do some equally painful thing." Lancelot's face fell as her statement and she smirked at him. Tristan sidled up beside her and she patted his leg quickly.
"Don't worry, Lancelot promises to play nice. Can we go now?" Bors let out a loud, "yes", and everyone set off towards the gates that were being opened for them. It would be the first time K'tanya left the protection of the wall since arriving at it, but she wasn't worried since she had her knights to protect her.
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"It's the bloody forest, where could people disappear to?" questioned Galahad as him and K'tanya rode side by side. They had been separated from the group and had no idea where to go.
"Galahad, you've been fighting Woads for years now- sometimes in the forest. Do you really want to ask that question?" she playfully teased and he smiled.
"No, I suppose I don't. Gawain would never let me hear the end of it."
"You and Gawain are close, almost like brothers." She observed and Galahad nodded.
"We stuck together when we first arrived on this wretched island. We became the family that we had been taken from and it made things easier." Galahad paused and looked at the lady next to him and smiled.
"Do you have any family K'tanya?" K'tanya shook her head.
"No, not anymore at least. My father was extremely ill right before I was taken so I suppose he is dead by now."
"No siblings?"
"Just one. An older brother taken to be in the service of Rome." Galahad observed K'tanya closely and tried to figure out who she looked like.
"What was his name?" he asked making no connections between her and a knight.
"Percival."
"What? You two look nothing alike!" he exclaimed. K'tanya laughed and turned to him and nodded.
"We were as different as day and night, but we loved each other very much. He protected me and I patched him up when he was beaten up."
"Percival? Beaten up? I find that hard to imagine." Retorted Galahad. K'tanya shrugged and gave a small sigh.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did he die?" Galahad swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as he explained.
"We were sent on a mission to defend this town under attack by the Woads. The church was set on fire and a woman told us that her little girl was inside. Percival went against Arthur's orders and ran into the church to rescue the girl." Galahad stopped as tears fell from his eyes. K'taya halted their horses and embraced him as best she could from beside him.
"The little girl lived, but Percival didn't." he choked out. K'tanya felt tears stream down her face as well and she gave a small shake.
"How long ago?" she whispered.
"Two years." K'tanya's heart sunk at the answer. Two years ago she was in Britain living a new life, had she stuck with her past life her brother may have lived.
"What of the girl?" she inquired as she released Galahad. The two of them wiped away their tears before he answered.
"She lived, she must be about six or seven now. She lives at the wall with her aunt." K'tanya nodded and was about to speak when the others emerged from the trees laughing and joking.
"About time we found you." Joked Gawain and Bors shouted to the world.
"ROOUUSS!" Birds who had been frightened from their perches let out shrieks of protest at the annoying bald man before settling down a distance away. That's when everyone noticed K'tanya's tear streaked face and Galahad's slightly red eyes.
"What happened?" inquired Arthur as he moved his horse closer to the duel. Galahad looked down at his hands and K'tanya grasped one gently.
"Galahad told me how Percival died." There was a collective sharp intake of breath from everyone present and K'tanya gave a sad smile to all.
"He was my older brother." Instantly she was engulfed in a hug by Bors and then Dagonet who all whispered comforting words to her making her feel much better.
"We'll have to swap stories sometime. You can tell me about the man he was and I'll tell you about the boy he used to be." She stated and a couple of the knights nodded.
"Sounds like fun." Gawain agreed patting his brother Galahad on the shoulder.
A few moments of silence passed before Tristan pointed out that the sun was going down and that it may be a good time to go home.
"You have a point, let's return to the wall." Stated Arthur and everyone began to ride back towards the wall and reality.
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Galahad watched as K'tanya moved about the Round Table running her fingers over each name. She would occasionally stop and stare at the name almost like she knew the person once. Galahad knew she had reached Percival's spot when a single tear fell from her eyes. He emerged from his place and placed and arm about her shoulders before embracing her completely.
"Two years ago I was trying to create a new life for myself. I can't help but think that if I hadn't done that, maybe I would have found him and saved him." She said and she cried on his chest. Galahad shook his head and rubbed his hands across her back.
"Don't say that, he wouldn't want you feeling guilty." He murmured and K'tanya gave a small laugh in reply.
"Can you show me where he is buried?" she pleaded and Galahad nodded.
"Follow me."
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The earth felt cool beneath her knees as she rested beside her brother's grave. His sword, their father's sword, stuck up from the ground and proclaimed to everyone that Percival was buried beneath the ear. Around the hilt of the sword was wrapped a leather strap with beads strung on it and a raven's feather. K'tanya reached out and stroked it with a sad smile on her face.
"I made this for him, before he was taken. I didn't want him to forget about me. I remember telling him that I didn't give a damn what the Romans said, he had to come back to me. And now. . . and now I come to him and I'm too late." The tears began to fall again and Galahad embraced her from behind.
"I'll see you in the fields. That's the last thing we heard him say before he died." Galahad whispered and K'tanya shook.
"Father told us how great knights came back as horses. The day Percival was taken he told me that he may die and if that happened, he would see my in the fields of Sarmatia when I followed after him." More tears racked her body as years of suppressed mourning came forth.
"For a boy of 16 he had no problem dying." Galahad felt a tear roll down his cheek as K'tanya continued to cry. He had known Percival, he had known what a great fighter he had been, but he never took the time to ask him about his past and now he regretted it. He had wanted to protect his brother's, but had failed so many times. But now he could protect the sister of his fallen brother, and Galahad knew he would protect her no matter what the cost.
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a.n: Only a few chapters more. I may finish this story today if all goes good. I'm thinking maybe three more chapters, really long chapters at that, but I may make a sequel depending on how many people like this story. I've received over 1400 hits to this story and that is pretty impressive. Now if only I had that many reviews. Hmm. ;) Loves.
-Changer